“Dispatch from Wellington, New Zealand” by Ryn Richmond

There was a job listed for a librarian position recently. It’s with a women’s prison. In all the discussions I have been a part of over the last month, prisoners are a population that hasn’t been discussed. My closest circles here and abroad are poor, immunocompromised, even though highly educated. Within these circles, there’s an intersection of writers, artists, teachers, policy workers, medical workers. . . Many of us worry we’ll lose our housing, our medications, our jobs, our sources of food. Each worry is founded, even with stimulus packages.

And yet. The only discussion I’ve seen regarding prisoners and the virus is a single post about access to menstrual products. Since grocery stores are running out of toilet paper, pads, and tampons during the public’s panic buying, what’s left for the prisoners?

Amidst all the discussions on socialism versus capitalism, racism, medically relevant information, and social distancing, just a single post.